The song switches to one I don’t recognize. It’s not a line dance—that much I can tell.
Noah leads me through the dance moves. My years of ballroom dancing at private school pay off. I might not know the steps, but I do know how to let a man lead, and I quickly figure them out.
The song is upbeat, and we’re twirling around the floor like nobody’s business. Aubrey’s dancing with Ryan, Violet with TJ, and Sophie with Jake. Austin and Troy are talking to some women near the bar.
We dance for several more songs; then the music changes to a slow dance. Noah pulls me close so our bodies are touching. My arms go around his neck and I sway along with him.
He brushes his lips against my jaw. “I want to spend the night with you tonight.” The scraping of his beard excites my girlie parts, and they’re defenseless against his husky voice.
“Okay,” I say on little more than a whisper. Noah has never spent the night before. Usually we have sex and he returns to the ranch—other than that first night when he ran into Troy in the morning.
We all stay at Joe’s for two more hours. Violet and TJ are the first to leave.
“So what’s the verdict?” Aubrey asks me as we drive to her house. Noah is planning to meet me at Charlotte’s since I need to drop Aubrey off first. “Did you have fun tonight?”
“I loved it.”
“Enough to want to do it again before you leave Copper Creek?”
“Absolutely. It’s been awhile since I last had that much fun.” And even back in my party days, it was nothing like tonight.
* * *
Noah’s truckis in the driveway when I arrive at Charlotte’s house. I enter through the front door, but he’s not in the furniture-less living room or the kitchen.
The sound of running water pulls my attention upstairs. I find Noah in my bathroom, filling the claw-foot tub. Steam raises in the air, lightly scented with lavender.
“I figured you might want to soak in the tub first.” He steps closer to me and caresses my leg where the scars are the worst. “How’s your leg doing?”
“It’s actually doing really well.” Especially given all the dancing tonight.
Noah undoes the button on my denim shorts. “I really approve of these. I hope I get to see you in them more often.” He unzips them, apparently more eager to see me out of them than in them.
“They’re not exactly practical for working on a renovation site.”
“They would look hot, though, with nothing more than a bra, steel-toed boots, and a tool belt.” He slowly runs the tip of his tongue along his lower lip. “It would be my new favorite fantasy.” His voice gets huskier with each word.
“What was your old favorite fantasy?”
“You in cowboy boots, a hat, and these shorts. But since I already got to live that fantasy, I needed to come up with something new.”
His fingers slip under the hem of the crocheted top, dragging it up my body. He pulls the top over my head and drops it onto the tile floor.
My nude strapless bra joins the pile a second later, and he kisses the top of each breast. “I’ve been waiting too long to taste these babies again.”
I have to agree with him there.
He pops a nipple into his mouth and sucks hard. My legs? They’re threatening to give out from the hot, wet sensation against the hard peak.
I grab the side of the tub to steady myself…and am reminded that the water is still running. The tub is close to overflowing.
I stretch toward the taps and turn one off—only for Noah to protest. I’d inadvertently reached too far, pulling my nipple from his mouth.
“Sorry. I didn’t want the bathroom to flood.” I quickly turn off the other tap.
“Good plan.” He goes back to sucking on me.
Luckily for the other taut bud, Noah considers its needs, too. He pinches and rolls it between his finger and thumb. My breaths are noisy like I’m running a marathon; only this one will end in the promised land.
